it's one of those iconic moments we talked about, where he can get -- capsulize an argument. >> that's how they'll fund the tax cuts, not subsidize big bird. thanks, mitt. we'll look down the road to see how polls were affected by last night's debate. keep talking about it. we have to get to "cnn newsroom" which begins with carol costello now. see you back here tomorrow. >> thanks, soledad. which presidential candidate is joenjoying a big bounce on t campaign trail today? miguel cabrera captures the triple crown. one billion users and growing, now news that facebook wants you to pay to promote your posts. a strong generic version of a popular anti-depressant off the market. what consumers need to know this morning. newsroom begins now.

good morning. thank you so much for joining us. i'm carol costello. it is the morning after the presidential debasement many americans are remembering not just what was said last night but over the weekend. remember the prediction that raised eyebrows just a few days ago? >> this whole race will be turned upside down come thursday morning. >> well, mitt romney has a lot more believers this morning after a commanding performance. most americans believe he trounced president obama in their first showdown. more on that in a moment. first, some of the reactions. even as the dust was settling. >> a week ago, people were saying this was over. we've got a horse race. mitt romney, his performance was head and shoulders above anything we've ever seen him do before. >> mitt romney rose to the moment tonight. in a way, frankly, that surprised me. >> it looked like romney wanted to be there and president obama

didn't want to be there. >> dan lothian is in denver. morning, dan. mr. obama can't be feeling very good this morning. >> reporter: good morning. well, look, as you just played out in those sound bites, it was a big night for governor romney. some have suggested it was a make or break debate for him. he certainly showed up to fight. and voters agree he got the win in a cnn or flash poll, 67% of the voters said he won the debate. 25% saying president obama won. how did he do it? he challenged the president, never backed down even as the president appeared not to want to push back until the second half of the debate. take a listen. >> i just don't know how the president could have come into office, facing 23 million people out of work, rising unemployment, an economic crisis at the kitchen table and spend his energy and passion for two years for fighting for obamacare instead of fighting for jobs for the american people. it has killed jobs. >> for 18 months, he has been

running on this tax plan. and now, five weeks before the election, he is saying his big, bold idea is never mind. >> reporter: now, carol, remember, there are two more preside presidential debates. next week we also have the vice presidential debate. it will be interesting to find out what kind of adjustments team obama will be making over the next few days. >> let's talk about those adjustments. how is the obama campaign reacting to the president's performance today? >> well, you know, first of all, they are praising his performance, saying it was a strong performance, but they're going after the substance, saying -- criticizing him, saying that his policies, his plans, what he said during the debate last night. there were a lot of flaws, distortions. take a listen to the president's campaign as senior adviser david axelrod on the "today" show this morning. >> i didn't say he was out debated. i think he treated the american people like adults and he told them the truth, which was a f d

fundamental distinction between him and governor romney last night on a whole host of issues. i joked that governor romney put more preparation into it than they did into the invasion of normandy. i expected a strong performance. i got a strong performance. that's what it was acres performance. >> the obama campaign doesn't believe that last night's debate will impact the overall race. we'll be watching closely those poll numbers, especially in the critical battleground states like ohio and here in colorado. carol? >> dan lothian, reporting live from denver this morning. perhaps the bigger loser last night was jim lehrer. the reviews are in and they're not good. some say he blew it, the worst moderator ever. bill keller called lehrer road kill. he could not even level an attack directed at his own network. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs.

i like pbs, big bird. i actually like you, too, but i'm not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> cnn political analyst and editorial director of the national journal. hi, ron. >> good morning, carol. >> i know it's not the most important issue of the night. plenty of people actually think lehrer helped mitt romney by allowing him so much time to answer questions. fair? >> i don't know. he has been an important force in presidential debates. last night was not a good night for him. the new format has a lot of strength, allows you to drill down on a subject, providing sustained focus on one area at a time. and he simply did not take advantage of it. he didn't have meaningful follow-ups. he didn't challenge them. he really didn't kind of force them to move beyond their kind of comfort zone and their talking points. i think it was a tremendous missed opportunity. i bet the other moderators will

learn from it and being more aggressive in using this tool that the new format provides him. >> cnn's candy crowley is up next and she's tough. we'll see what she does. >> yes. right. >> on the likability issue, some are saying mitt romney leveled the playing field last night, he became likable, as likable as president obama. is that right? >> well, you know, i don't know. i don't know about that. i don't think his problem has been the question of likability. i think it's been related but different, empathy. whether he understands, cares about the problems, economic strains that middle class families are experiencing. he did make progress on that front. in particular, arguing that he had a plan. i thought the debate exposed what i believe has been the major blank spot, the hole in president obama's campaign agenda. he has given us very little sense of what he would do with a second term if the public gives him another four years. he was really almost silent on that question last night and only had energy, i thought, when he was attacking romney in the middle section of the debate over his budget, medicare and

tax plans. other than that, i don't think people would come away with much of an idea of what president obama would give them if they give him another four years. >> romney, they say, will ultimately rise in the polls because of his debate perfo performance. for that small number of voters that haven't made up their minds, has this helped romney? >> very difficult past few weeks, if last night went well for the president you kind of have a hardening of the belief that the race is virtually sealed, out of reach. the debate has ended that discussion and it's going to remind us, move into the conversation, a reminder that the president faces in this debate. mitt romney did had himself some good with those undecided voters and just as importantly energized the he republican base. there's a sense of retooling in the obama campaign, look, incoming presidents often have problems in their first debate.

people don't talk to you like that in the oval office. no question the president needs a reset. >> ron brownstein, thank you very much for your wise words of analysis. cnn will reair the presidential debate in case you didn't see it. it will reair the debate at 1:00 pm eastern. a look at other stories we're watching this morning. developing situation in turkey, where the government has authorized troop deployment in foreign countries. that approval comes as turkey continues firing on syria in retaliation for shelling one of the border towns. syria apologizing now for that attack. five people were killed. from baytown, texas, extinguished a blaze that wiped out an exxonmobil plant. the fire is still under investigation here, no one was injured. 79% of teachers in chicago have approve d a new contract, the highest approval rating in teachers union history. the deal was reached after a seven-day strike last month,

which impacted the nation's thrp third largest school system. turning now to sports and baseball and something that has not been seen in 45 years. detroit tigers miguel cabrera has won the american league triple crown. cabrera was taken out in the fourth inning in last night's game with kansas city, got a standing ovation from royals fans. the guy they call miggy was modest about his historic achievement. >> i don't believe it. i don't believe it's happening right now. i don't believe like three weeks ago it's going to happen. but you always dream, you know. you always dream. thank god gave me an opportunity to have this dream come true. >> some of us had to tell him how big of a deal it was. obviously he knew the significance of it. i don't think it set in for him and i don't think it will. but he's the best player on the planet. >> he is a whole lot of fun to watch. that's some praise from arguably the best pitcher in the game,

justin verlander. the numbers don't lie. cabrera finishes the regular season with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 rbis. cabrera and the tigers begin their postseason saturday against the equally amazing oakland a's. a major milestone for facebook. social networking site now says it has one billion active users every month. that's one out of every seven people on the planet. facebook says it's most popular in brazil, india, indonesia, mexico and, of course, the united states. facebook users have never been the company's problem. of course, its issue was money and getting all those friends to cough up some cash. now it might have found a way. the site will let you promote your post for a small fee. alison kosik is in new york. will this work? >> that's really the real money

question right there, carol. it could be a new source of revenue, maybe. something certainly facebook needs. this is just a test. you pay $7 to promote pictures or announcements that you think are important, meaning it pushes that post right to the top of your friends' news feeds, hits them over the head with it and gets them to look at it first. it's already been an option, by the way, for businesses. the difference is now it's testing it out to some individual users. facebook obviously looking for ways to drive up its revenue. facebook shares have had real trouble since the company went public, down more than 40% since that may ipo. facebook needs to reassure its investors it has plan for growth. the big question, though, with this new program called promote, who will use this? it makes sense for small business, you want to use it to promote specials and new offerings that you have or for networking. what about personal use? to make sure, carol, people know

about your halloween party? i don't know. >> i don't know either. we'll see. alison kosik, live at the new york stock exchange. jack frost arriving early this year. we'll tell you how much snow to expect. i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. these appliances could have been made here in america.

but a company called global tech maximized profits by paying its workers next to nothing... under sweatshop conditions in china. when mitt romney led bain, they saw global tech as a good investment... even knowing that the firm promoted its practice of exploiting... low-wage labor to its investors. mitt romney - tough on china? since when?

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it is 15 minutes past the hour. cdc says it expects to see more cases of a deadly meningitis outbreak. 26 people have been sickened in five states. four have died. the culprit, a steroid injection given to the spine to treat pain and inflammation. the company that makes the drug is conducting a voluntary recall. it's only october. parts of north dakota are already seeing snow. rob says up to a foot of snow and near blizzard conditions are possible in northeastern areas of the state. central north dakota is now under a winter weather advisory. generic anti-depressant is pulled off the market because it

doesn't work as well as the named brand. pima pharmaceuticals is pulling its generic version of wellbutrin xl. hundreds of patients complained, sparking an fda investigation. on to the debate. were you confused about all this talk about romney's supposed $5 trillion tax cut plan in last night's debate? obama accused romney of bad math and said the cut would add to the deficit. then romney said hey, i don't have a $5 trillion tax cut. cnn's tom foreman is here. what's up with that, tom? >> there were more accusations and denials than a junior high school schoolyard fight. we knew it would be a big issue. it dominated the beginning of this debate. obama said that romney is pitching a huge tax cut for the

wealthy. >> governor romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut. on top of the extension of the bush tax cuts, that's another trillion dollars and $2 trillion in additional military spending that the military hasn't asked for. >> awful lot, but let's look at the facts. mitt romney does propose a 20% tax cut. the nonpartisan tax policy center says that under that plan, if that's all you're talking about, is the tax cut, taxes on the wealthiest americans would be reduced by $5 trillion initially. our verdict here on this claim is that it is false. to understand why, you have to look at the the second part of the equation here. mitt romney, his idea that he would cut taxes on the wealthy by $5 trillion, we're saying that is false. the second part of the equation you have to look at to understand all of this there's more to it. mitt romney also talked about the deficit last night. and he claims that even with his tax cut, he will not add to the

defici deficit. >> my number one principle is there will be no tax cut that adds to the deficit. i won't put in place a tax cut that adds to the deficit. that's part one. so there's no economist that can say mitt romney's tax plan adds $5 trillion if i say i will not add to the deficit with my tax plan. my plan is not to put in place any tax cut that will add to the deficit. >> the problem in both of these claims is a lack of specifics. what the president is assuming, the reason we said false on his claim, he basically is assuming if he just did a tax cut and nothing else, then it would include this giant amount of tax breaks for people out there. but that's what mr. romney is saying he won't do. he's saying he has all these specifics in terms of cutting deductions, finding ways of closing loopholes so that people would pay more and there wouldn't be this giant tax cut but he wouldn't say what that would be. this lack of detail sincere really a huge problem. that makes romney's claim

incomplete. the president's claim false. you just can't assume the worst. the real problem, fundamentally, we just don't have the details of how this would work. we don't really know how to measure the statements of either man other than the way we have at this point. >> don't you wish someone would have pressed mitt romney on that issue last night? >> honestly, people have been pressing him on t the president tried to him press him on it last night. the romney people have consistently -- they've given a little bit more information on what they're going to talk about. for example, people are worried about the mortgage interest deduction on their taxes, whether or not that's one of the loopholes that romney would close. some economists have said you have to close that one if you're going to get enough money out of this to offset all this. the romney people have indicated that's not one they're look iin at very hard. but it's very squishy at this point. the simple truth is people are pressing for answers. my guess is that they're going to press a whole lot more in the next few weeks. >> and they should. tom foreman, thanks so much. if you didn't catch the

debate we'll replay it for you at 1:00 pm eastern. just a programming note for you. up until now, president obama was the candidate everyone wanted to have a beer with. but after last night, some people might have found a new drinking buddy. the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

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the question for you this morning is criticism of the debate moderator fair? reviews are in, and they're not pretty. weak, useless, road kill. they're not talking about president obama or governor romney but the moderator, jim lehrer. he seemed ineffectual at times, despite having moderated debates before. >> what's the difference? let's stay on taxes. let's just stay on taxes for a moment. what is the difference? >> virtually everything he just said about my tax plan is inaccurate. >> all right. just for the record -- >> worry talking about -- >> just so everybody understands, we are way over our first 15 minutes. >> that's fine, isn't it? >> it's great. no problem. >> the last point i would make -- >> two minutes is up, sir. >> no, i had five seconds before

you interrupted me. >> here are the specifics. >> excuse me. >> let's talk the other big. >> no, no, let's not. let's let him respond to this specific on dodd-frank. >> some viewers also wondered why lehrer didn't challenge romney's attack on his own network, pbs. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i love big bird. actually like you, too, but i'm not going to keep on spending money to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> the web went wild for big bird. shame shame. mentions of big bird went up 800,000%. seriously, though. l lehrer with his criticized for not explaining dodd-frank and simpson bowles to the public. obama adviser stephanie cutter suggested that lehrer allowed

romney to steam roll the debate. but to lehrer, the reporter is not the story. he just reports t it's not so easy in these hyper partisan times. some called him a safe and predictable choice and unhappy lehrer told "the new york times," it's a rough, rough world. those of us who have decided to play in that world have to play by the rules. i'm susceptible to the same smears as anyone else. those smears keep on coming this morning. talk back question for you, is criticism of the debate moderator fair? facebook.com/carolcnn. your responses later this hour. keeping their credit cards in their wallet and way from the cash registers. [ female announcer ] a classic meatloaf recipe from stouffer's

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we're coming up on 30

minutes past the hour. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. stories we're watching in the newsroom, stocks set for a higher open on wall street on several key elements of the economy. including jobless reports. steel case, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary is ringing the opening bell. mark zuckerberg announced the site has reached 1 billion users per month, bricking down to one out of every seven people on the planet. users can promote their posts by paying seven bucks. in money news, americans are being more responsible with their credit cards, according to american bankers association report. delinquencies have hit aan 11-year low. the key reason why many consumers are paying down their debt is uncertainty in the economy. first presidential debate is

in the bag. many say mitt romney wins in more ways than one. going into the debate, president obama was way ahead of romney in the likability polls. last night, romney one-up the president on his own wedding anniversary. first, obama. >> a lot of points i want to make tonight. but the most important one is that 20 years ago, i became the luckiest man on earth, because michelle obama agreed to marry me. and so i just want to wish, sweetie, you, happy anniversary, and let you know that i year from now, we will not be celebrating it in front of 40 million people. >> romney grabbed the ball, responded in a way that was downright charming. >> and congratulations to you, mr. president, on your anniversary. i'm sure this was the most romantic place you could imagine here, here with me. so i -- congratulations. >> cnn contributor's will cain, roland martin, who leans left, are here to discuss.

welcome, gentlemen. >> how are you doing? >> the moment you just played that's an important moment. >> talk about that. you know, mitt romney got a big laugh. he seemed genuine. >> right. i think i talk toud about this the other day. mike deaver, the media adviser to ronald reagan, he once said these television events -- and make no mistake a debate is a television event -- 85% visual, 10% how you sound and 5% of what you actually say. leading up to the importance of, as you've been talking about, likability. i'm taken aback by how much more stiff president obama was than mitt romney. you played moments like that and throughout the debate, mitt romney seemed calm, in command of the facts, comfortable, made eye contact with the president. the president simply just looked uncomfortabl uncomfortable. >> and, roland, one of the boston papers had a headline that it was snore more years for obama. i mean, the reviews of his

performance are harsh. >> absolutely. i think that it was lackluster, to some degree. i will disagree with will cain when he said mitt romney had a command of the facts. he had a command of what mitt thought actually were facts. you look at the fact checkers today. and so he's not doing well in that particular area. at the end of the day is what do the folks who were watching -- what do they actually think? that's what it really boils down tochlt i do think president barack obama had some opportunities to really go at mitt romney and did not take advantage of it. he did not respond to the $716 billion lie when it came to medicare. he also did not challenge him when mitt romney talked about the issue of the banks being too big to fail. he didn't say, fine, mitt romney, do you believe -- are you going to support glass steigal? your vice presidential pick does. he allowed romney to gloss over too many things. you can't wait for the moderators to do it, mr. president. you have to do it. i think the basketball phrase, you have to press, press. >> the other thing president obama didn't bring up, which surprised many people, was the

47% thing. was that a mistake or by design, will? >> look, the 47% thing -- here is the deal. the first question dealt with jobs. i didn't hear the president say mitt, why have you not sided with veterans and oppose your own party when they blocked the veterans deal in the united states senate? i don't understand why he didn't do it. why he didn't bring up the infrastructure issue that they have traditionally supported but have blocked when he became president. you must press, press, full court press, 40 minutes of had hell. frankly the president sat back and laid back. that's not how you win. >> if i may, if i may -- look, there's valid criticism and invalid criticism. roland's monologue, he managed to fit both n the invalid criticism is that the fact checkers are call iing what mit romney said last night many

mistruths or lies. that is not the case. >> it is the case. >> no, it is not the case. on the $716 billion in medicare, that is a deep argument, policy argument, one which i'm happy to have with you or anyone else, roland, any day. on the $5 trillion tax cut, this is where he ventures into the realm of valid criticism. mitt romney has not provided the details for those loopholes and deductions he plans to do away with. it is possible but he is not explaining how. it's also insplikable, which roland, again, fits some valid criticism in here, as to why the president didn't do that one simple thing and ask mitt romney, what deductions are you talking about? please tell us all. >> exactly. roland, voters really want to know that. i mean, when all is said and done, mitt romney turned in a great performance. again, he didn't get into specifics. that's what voters really want to know about. >> the other day you never let somebody off the hook. you remember, a great

performance does not mean what you said was accurate and truthful. and so you come away from it. people are saying mitt romney had a great debate. he won. okay. but did he win based upon truth? the president allowed far too many things to slide. i'm sitting there going how did the president not even say mitt congressional budget office has been cleared, affordable care act will actually cut the deficit. he didn't even go there and simply allowed it to be stated. i'm sorry. you don't let anybody come across making those statements. you must play offense, not just defense. >> we'll talk to governor ted strickland, one of obama's surrogates. we'll ask him that question. roland martin, will cain, thank you. >> thank you. morning to y'all. what a crowning achievement. tiger superstar is the first to win the triple crown since 1967. we'll talk about that.

a lot of issues went unmentioned at last night's debate. a six-foot tall yellow bird got everybody talking. as soon as mitt romney said he liked the sesame street character, big bird, but would do away with government funding of pbs, home of big bird, fake big bird accounts blew up on twitter. fired big bird has about 26,000 followers right now. and if mitt romney wins, this is what i'll be forced to do. out with a picture that has big bird with a will work for food sign. and even one where big bird claims allegiance with the 47%. poor big bird. we've heard from the analysts, pundits and politicians. what about you?

was the first debate a game changer or is your mind made up and nothing can change it? an obama supporter hosted a viewing party last night. good morning. >> god morning. >> viewers were there, watching obama. and some people say he appeared rather lifeless. what was their reaction to his performance? >> i think a lot of the people that were in attendance, they were set to see a full-on charge of president obama. i think they were a little bit surprised at how strongly candidate romney came out. >> and did it change their minds abou governor romney? >> i think with these debates mostly, the people are already set in who they're going to vote for. there are people that are there, just trying to solidify the reason they picked their candidate. there are aalways those people on the fence. when you have people that are possibly going one way or the other, you take a debate like last night and you may turn the people that are on the fence.

>> were people surprised that president obama didn't seem to attack mr. romney at all, at least during the first half of the dough bait? he just sort of listened and then gave his talking points. >> yes. a lot of people mentioned this were surprised the president didn't bring up governor romney's offshore accounts, the 47% remark. they were really surprised he didn't come back with a lot of those comments. >> so, how much harm do you think the president's performance has done as far as the polls go? and can he recover? >> i think he can recover. what he needs to do is sit back, take a look at what occurred last night, figure out how he's going to move forward from here. he has a good lead in the race. i think he just needs to double down on what he is already good at and take this as a learning lesson and keep moving forward. >> was it the format? was that the problem? some people were saying the format really favored mitt romney and not president obama. >> i think maybe the president had a mind-set, trying to

quarterback, referee this. he had a certain mind-set with the way he was expecting it to go. i believe that candidate romney came right out and just did something entirely unexpected and took the ball and just kept running with it. at that point, the president was just trying to regroup and maintain and go forward. >> councilman zandri, thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. all right. you're not looking at a jungle. there it is. you're looking at a massive marijuana farm. it gives a whole new meaning to field of dreams, doesn't it? 

45 minutes past the hour. kitchenaid, the appliance company, is apologizing for an insensitive tweet sent out during the debate. it read, quote, obama's grandma even knew it was going to be bad. she died three days before he became president. end quote.

the company said it was a carelessly sent out by a team member who will no longer be tweeting for them. a philadelphia police officer caught punching a woman during a parade will be suspended with intent to dismiss. the woman who was hit wants a public apology. her attorney says she sprayed silly string toward police but missed and says a man behind her sprayed beer at police, provoking the officer who apparently did not see who sprayed him with beer. and, look at this, it's believed to be the biggest pot field ever found in the city of chicago. yeah, chicago. it's about the size of two football fields. police say the marijuana crop is worth about $10 million. city crews are harvesting the plants and will destroy them. police found the fields during a helicopter flight. no suspects yet. if you stayed up last night to watch the debate or by now, even if you didn't, you know

that many people are saying that mitt romney came out the clear, if unexpected, winner. there were times when the fighting was fierce but overall president obama gave a performance that seemed a little rusty. okay. we don't have that bite. hopefully, you watched the debate and know what i'm talking about. former governor and national co-chair of the obama campaign, ted strickland. good morning, governor strickland. >> good morning. >> thanks for being with us. i know you must be tired. senator rob portman got a huge round of applause when he returned to the hotel last night. john kerry was president obama's sparring partner. do you think he got the same welcome? >> i don't know. i think what we saw last night was mitt romney do very well in terms of form and style, but i think president obama was the clear winner when it comes to substance and truthfulness.

mitt romney presented us with the ultimate etch-a-sketch behavior last night as he switched from who he has been throughout most of his life and during this campaign and he said things that were just not accurate. and i think that will catch up with him eventual ly. >> many people are wondering, especially democrats, why president obama didn't attack mitt romney more. why didn't he press him and make that clear to the people who were watching the debate? >> well, you know, i don't know exactly what the president's strategy was. but, quite frankly, what we saw last night was a man who mentioned meeting a couple of people along the campaign trail and said they asked him for his help. as i heard him say that i thought that's thoes are probably people that are part of the 47% that mitt romney talked so disdeidisdainfully about.

he stands before millions of people and he's a different person. >> but if president obama had said something like that during the course of the debate, maybe that would would have resonated with people who were watching. >> you know, i understand that. perhaps the president felt like referring to the 47% statement or video was -- you know, too trivial to bring out in a nationally televised presidential debate. >> but, but -- >> quite frankly, i think that's -- >> but that's not trivial in president obama's mind. that's not trivial aat all. >> it isn't trivial. in fact, it expresses to the american people exactly what mitt romney thinks about them. and then we have the video from paul ryan talking about the 30% of americans who want a welfare state. mitt romney and paul ryan are

disdainful about large portions of the american population. he got on tv last night, gave a good performance. but which is it? is it the mitt romney we saw last night or is it the mitt romney who talks disdainfully about -- over 47% of the american people? i think he is, as i said, the etch-a-sketch guy. >> why didn't president obama give bri up some of these points in last night's debate? some people are saying maybe he didn't prepare enough, maybe he was too nonchalant about it. maybe he was out of practice. what are his advisers telling him about his performance? we have a couple more debates to go. >> i don't know. aas i said earlier, i think on substance, the president was very good last night. he spoke the truth. i don't think the politifact folks will find a problem with what the president said last

night but will with mitt romney last night because at times he was simply not honest. for example, he said he does not have a $5 trillion tax cut plan. he does. it's been detailed. and multiple times, he has said he did not have such a plan. i he is going to offset that $5 trillion with deductions. >> it's just a guess on president obama's part because he kept mentioning the $5 trillion figure but mitt romney never gave any specifics how he would offset the tax breaks he was going to give and on president obama's side, a lot of critics says he didn't give voters a plan on what he would do in a second term. >> well, mitt romney did give one deduction that he was willing to get rid of and that was big bird and public broadcasting, but he didn't talk about getting rid of the mortgage deduction, getting rid

of the deduction to help parents pay for college or getting rid of charitable deductions. those are the big ones and those are the deductions that strike at the heart of the middle class and why mitt romney not willing to talk did the deductions. he is willing to say how many taxes he would cut, especially for wealthy people. that part of the equation he is more than willing to talk about, but the part that really hurts the middle class, he is secretive about and i think the american people have a right to know before this election exactly what mitt romney is going to take away from them in terms of their mortgage deduction, their child tax credit deduction and charitable deductions. these are the big deductions and why won't he talk about them and that is a major issue in this campaign, i think. >> i'm sure that journalists will be pressing mitt romney on those very issues. governor strickland, thank you

for joining us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> if you had to put a hundred bucks on oakland back in july, you'd have $10,000 now! the a's make a comeback that has never been seen before in the big leagues.

here is to you, miguel cabrera. he has emerged as one of baseball's best hits and takes his place with the legends of the game. cabrera came off the field last night to a standing ovation in honor of his winning the triple crown. the tigers slugger is the first major leaguer to do that in 45 years. just check out cabrera's numbers for the season. .330 batting average and 44 home runs and 139 rbis and he held lead the tigers to the playoffs. tigers, by the way, will be playing the surprising oakland a's in the first round by pounding texas 12-5 and a's close the regular season in record fashion. the only team to win a division or league after being five games out with nine to play back at the all-star break. the a's odds to win the a.l.

west were 100-1. the o's could take a win and yankees lost to boston. boy, that guy, evan longoria shut the doors on the o's. he smacked three home runs in the rays 4-1 win. the orioles will play texas tomorrow in the a.l. wild card game. winner goes on in the playoffs and loser goes home. new york captured the a.l. east. yankees postgame celebration much calmer than the others we have seen this week. it's their 13th a.l. east crown in the last 17 seasons. they open the playoff on sunday against the winner of the texas/baltimore game. that is a look at sports. today's talkback. criticism of the debate moderator fair? sausage link. mermaid. honey!? driftwood. come on, you gotta help us out here a little. [ male announcer ] febreze eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪

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talkback question of the morning is the criticism of the debate moderator fair?

this from daryl. no. jim lehre is a professional. he was nice, considering the participatants did not follow the time limit rules. he was supposed to be a moderator and he wound up like a replacement referee. romney took command of the debate like a real president should. from jacob. lehrer was week. i was sick of seeing mitt forcing his last two cents or even interrupting the president. and this from lisa. not fair at all. keep the conversation going. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts now. which presidential candidate is enjoying a big bounce on the campaign trail today? bizarre debate moments. the blinking. the bro hug and big bird. but will it change your vote? plus, urban farming reaches

a new "high." police in chicago find two football fields worth of marijuana plants the size of christmas trees. a generic version of off the market. we are looking at generic drug risks. newsroom starts now. good morning! i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. it's the morning after the presidential debate. a lot of you are still talking about the commanding performance by mitt romney. right after the debate, we conducted a cnn/orc international poll of people who watched it. 2 out of 3 said romney won. 1 in 4 picked obama. 1 in 5 thought the president did better than expected. 61% said obama failed to live up to expectations. romney scored here as well. 82% of debate watchers said he

did better than expected. today, both men are campaigning in battleground states but romney will be seizing on a big performance. we begin our coverage with dana bash. >> reporter: out of the gate, it was clear. mitt romney came to play. >> the president has a view very similar to the view he ran four years ago that a bigger government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more, if you will, trickle down government would work. >> reporter: president obama sounded a familiar alarm. warning of romney's been there, done that, economics. >> the approach that governor romney is talking about is the same sales pitch that was made in 2001 and 2003. and we ended up with the slowest job growth in 50 years. >> reporter: but whether it was health care, jobs or make, romney stood out for his aggressive style. >> i don't know how the

president could come into office facing 23 million people out of work and rising economic and spend his energy and passion two years fighting for obama care. >> reporter: the president made his points in a slower, more laid-back manner, often looking down. sometimes appearing disengaged. it's not that he didn't try to rip apart romney's economic plan. >> that kind of pop top down economics folks at the top are doing well the average person is making $3 million is getting a $250,000 tax break while middle class families are burdened further. >> reporter: romney was determined to go tow-to-toe. >> what is the difference? >> virtually, everything he just said about my tax plan is inaccurate, so if the tax plan he described were a tax plan i was asked to support, i'd say absolutely not. >> reporter: the president did get digs in. >> for 18 months, he has been running on this tax plan. and now, five weeks before the election, he is saying that his big, bold idea is never mind. >> reporter: but he also showed

flashes of the kind of testiness sources in both camps feared from their candidates, except obama's was directed at the moderator, not romney. >> the last point i'd make before -- >> two minutes. two minutes is up, sir. >> no. i think i had five seconds before you interrupted me. >> reporter: romney did have his own awkward moderator moment. >> i'm sorry, jim. i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. >> reporter: one thing he did not say was no mention of romney's infamous and nothing about bain capital and played the romney is a relationshhypoc >> the model is we have seen this model work really well in massachusetts because governor romney did a good thing, working with democrats in the state to

set up what is essentially the identical model and, as a consequence, people are covered there. it hasn't destroyed jobs. >> reporter: romney who ran from his massachusetts health care plan now used it to go to the middle for the general election. >> i like the way we did in tin massachusetts. i like the fact in my state we had democrats and republicans come together and work together. what you did instead was push through a plan without a single republican vote. >> reporter: and romney's countless hours of rehearsals clearly produced lines like this. >> mr. president, your title as a president is you own your own airplane and your own house but not your own facts. >> dana bash joins us now from new york. even david axelrod said he respects the republicans to get a bounce from romney's performance. you've been around a long time. last night's debate be a game-changer? >> reporter: when it comes to the actual polls, we, obviously, have our instant poll which shows that people overwhelmingly

thought that mitt romney did better generally and also on the important issues, but when it comes to the actual campaign, unclear if it's going to change people's minds, but there is no question it has changed the narrative. at this point in an election, that is really, really critical. let's look at it from mitt romney's camp. a couple of days, he had conservative columnists saying let's cut our losses and put our money in our resources towards getting the senate saying, you know, forget it, it's game over. now, they are not saying that at all. so that is going to help romney with energy when it comes to grassroots campaigning and energy when it comes to fund-raising and donors so that all cannot be sdouptdiscounted. will it win him the presidency? not by a long shot, but it makes the navive and discussion about this campaign completely different than it was yesterday. >> dana bash is reporting live for us thanks so. the law about the economy last night and hard to know who

is telling the truth. president obama would say one thing and governor romney would contradict it, especially on tax cuts. so who has the answers? i know. our chief business correspondent ali velshi is here. i've missed you! >> we spent very early mornings together and nice we both get to sleep a little more. >> exactly. >> we have heard a lot of numbers thrown around last night. tell us what they mean. >> a lot of things to do how you are going to deal with the deficit a major concerns of americans vis-a-vis taxes, who is going to do what. president obama made an allegation about mitt romney's tax plan and how it will increase the deficit. let's play that. >> governor romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cuts on top of the bush tax cuts another trillion dollars and trillion dollars in military spending the military hasn't asked for. >> a number of things but the $5

trillion tax cut is what romney came back to saying i will not add $5 trillion to the deficit. let's see how president got to the 5 trillion. the center for budget and priorities a liberal think tank says if you cut taxes by 20% in every category. everybody gets a 20% cut and reduce income to the government by $4.9 trillion over ten years, very close to what president obama said. here is what mitt romney said. by the way, you can't do it. if mitt romney says i'm not going to increase the deficit, people's taxes would have to go up to cover the difference. here is why mitt romney says that will not work. he cuts taxes 0% across the board and that stimulates business. his arguments and many argue if you cut taxes people use the money they were otherwise paying the government to invest in businesses and hire people and more people are employed and more people pay a lower tax rate and the government gets more money. so is that a lie or is it true? who knows. it's how you calculate the

numbers. >> we always forget that taxes are already low, especially on the wealthiest americans. that is not happening now. >> that is the biggest argument against it that we have had these low tax rates and we know wealthy people pay a lower tax rate. president obama proposes raising the income tax rates when president clinton was president and has a sphere if you raise taxes then they really won'ting investing it in the economy. >> what mitt romney is saying once he becomes president and people know their taxes will be cut people will become so excited they will start hiring, willy-nilly? >> that is kind of the argument. that is kind of the argument and a lot of people really believe that. in canada where i'm from, they have done that, lowered corporate taxes and did seem to be a business bump as a result but it's psychological and hard to know. are companies saying lower my taxes and i'll hire people or i'll give it out as dividends

and keep more cash? we just don't know. >> ali velshi, thanks so much. tons of complicated math. no wonder people are describing last night's showdown as wonkish. here is how it's being viewed. tv viewers needed research teams on the couch. over 90 minutes, barack obama may have won the gravitas battle. obama was restained to the point of flailing. if you remember, new jersey governor chris christie predicted a romney victory. a victory lap this morning. >> he came out and said here is why i want to take america. i don't think the president was ready to answer that. fact of the matter is, you know, you can't beat the champ on points. mitt romney hit a knockout last

night. >> whether by knockout or merely by points, democrats concede that democrats are shrugging off romney's big win. >> i didn't say he was out debated. i think he treated the american people like adults and he told them the truth which was a fundamental distinction between him and governor romney last night on a whole host of issues. i joke that governor romney had put more preparation into it than they did into the invasion of normandy. you saw last night. i expected a strong performance and got that and that is what it was, a performance. >> if you weren't listening closely to every word the candidates said you may have noticed everything they did. mike mitt romney more than a blink at second like a strobe light or president obama's giant grin even smiling when the discussion wasn't funny or pleasant. what about the handshake? looks like a halfway bro hug, doesn't it? talk about all of this body language is debate director from emory university, ed lee. thank you for being here.

>> thank you for having me. >> first of all, this is like some people will say, my gosh, this is such a shallow conversation, but how much does body language matter when it comes to performance? in debates? >> it's extremely important. one of the things we want to keep in mind is every mass media event, every form of communication is an attempt to create a persona and, ultimately, both candidates are trying to sell us who they are and who they think they can be and whether or not they have a particular person you want to lead the country on. so both are creating a persona. for me, i thought that as a communications and debate coach this was far more interesting and thinking about it in that prism an we have thought about it. >> mitt romney charged the stage and energetic from the get-go. what sort of distracting to me when he was not answering the questions, he blinked a lot but he did look at president obama. so kind of parse that out for me. >> i think both of them in a way in which they gaejed each other

in the nonverbal cues they gave offset a lot. with mitt romney and the bli blinking and the way he looked at the president and sparred with the moderator seemed aggression and combative role he was trying to play. >> do you blink because you're nervous? >> some of it is nervousness. at times i also thought it was a desire to enter into the debate. and trying to reserve himself from being rude. >> sort of like another way of going, oh, oh! >> yes. i have on to speak. i have something to say. >> reporter: president obama smiled a lot and didn't look at mitt romney a lot. mistake? >> i don't think that it was necessarily a mistake because the role that he was trying to play was less a fighter and more the compromiser. where he was looking was to pay attention to the audience. one of the things we want to keep in mind is who are we trying to communicate to? for obama, i thought he did a

very good job of trying to communicate to the audience and looking more at the camera than at mitt romney. i thought romney's parol of playing the fighter, the aggressor was to look at obama. both of them in their own ways i thought were successful at playing the role, the persona that they wanted. >> during the debate, i was on my facebook page. >> sure:a lot of my friends, they were really bothered because president obama said uh a lot. let's listen. >> well, let me talk specifically about what i think we need to do. uh. first, for not adding to the deficit -- individuals can -- are currently taking advantage of. you take those all away. >> okay. so i just did it! but the better way to do that is just paws and not say anything. ho you do eliminate the uhs? obviously, the probe was thinking about what he was saying. >> exactly what those are. those are verbal pauses he is engaging in that clearly he is a

deliberative speaker and likes to think about everything he says before he actually says it and you're absolutely right. in many of my communication classes, i teach students to just paws. take your time. have an adequate pace. and don't worry about going back on what you have to say. >> because you think it's going to be a long paws but it's really not. it's like a half a second. >> clearly not. it's not something that actually the audience pays that much attention to. one of the things that i thought with both candidates probably wanted to keep in mind at times is that the audience's capacity to understand and process information is at a much slower rate and the capacity is much smaller than they were actually willing to deliver the information. >> dr. lee, thank you so much. it was fascinating. >> thank you for having me. grab a pencil and take a close look. the fbi is offering $50,000 for this massachusetts man. you've been busy for a dead man.

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the culprit believed to have a steroid injection. the company making the drug is offering a voluntary plivers. a philadelphia police officer was caught punching a woman in the face as a prared will be fired. they say the officer will be suspended with intent to dismiss. the woman who was hit wants a public apology. the fbi launches a new search for a man they are calling a wanted terrorist and offering $50,000 reward. they say the man is a u.s. citizen who grew up near boston and may be live in syria. the fbi say he sought training to kill u.s. troops overseas. on the subject of syria. the country is apparently apologizing for shelling that crossed the border and hit a town in turkey. take a look at the damage to this home. five people died in the artillery fire.

turkey still shooting back at syrian troops morning and turkey government passed a resolution for troops to go into syria if necessary. with me is cnn international correspondent nic robertson. how worried should we be that this will turn into something bigger? >> it is escalating. i don't think we expect turkey to go to war, not their intention and not the support for the prime minister to do that but put syria on notice. do it again and there will be serious repercussions that will come back to you. >> who in syria is responsible for, you know, for what is happening in turkey? >> i think the best -- we don't know the details, we really don't. i think it's unlikely the syrian government would have authorized their troops to fire over the border. the lat thing they want is draw international intervention. they are escalating and the conversation from shelling to shooting and dropping bombs from

aircraft but they don't want to draw the international communication in. they have it on their terms right now. you got to figure it is very probably, you know, a soldier on the ground and then officer is in the heat of battle and his -- they are not firing with accuracy. maybe taking fire and popping our the mortar rounds and not caring, but we don't know. >> the united states has a pretty good relationship with turkey. how likely is that turkey will put pressure on the united states to do something more about syria? >> they already want to. i mean, we have already heard from the turkeyish foreign minister saying we need a buffer zone over syria to be protected and you can't put it over that protection. i don't think we're going to see, based on this instance, you know, a military support. but turkey does want to know if it gets into something deeper with syria that it does this international nato support, u.s. support behind it, so that is

entirely possible but turkey has a strong professional army. they are not lacking in capability. they just want to know they are going to have real depth. >> the violence within syria has been going on a long time now. are you surprised that assad is still in power? >> no. i was just in damascudamascus. he is not having any major significant defections. the center of the capital and quite a number of the suburbs around it are untouched by war and still a large percent of the population that don't support him, they are very concerned of the alternative. so, no, i think he is pretty solid right now. >> nic robertson, thanks. nice to see you here at home, at least home for us. and you too sometimes. >> it is. >> where do you live, anyway? >> i live in london, but my wife and daughters are all u.s. citizens. >> welcome, nic. have a good time here. mitt romney stole the spotlight last night but will a

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back on one of the big stories of the day. the question morning is criticism of the debate moderator fair?

the reviews are in. they are not pretty. weak. useless. road kill. i'm not talking about president obama or mitt romney. but about the moderator jim lehrer. despite having moderated 11 previous debates, lehrer seemed ineffectual at times. >> stay on track for a moment. what is the difference? >> virtually, everything you just said about my tax plan is inaccurate. >> just -- just for the record -- excuse me. just so everybody understand. >> yeah. >> we are way over our first 15 minutes. >> it's fun, isn't it? >> it's okay. it's great. no problem. >> the last point i'd make before -- >> two minutes. two minutes is up, sir. >> i think i had five seconds before you interrupted me, was -- >> here is a specific. >> let's. >> let's talk the other -- >> no, let's not. let him respond. let's let him respond to this specific on dodd-frank.

>> viewers wonder why lehrer didn't attack romney on his own station, pbs. >> i love pbs and i love big bird and i like you too but not spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. >> the web went big for big bird. shame, shame! thank goodness for twitter and facebook and mentions of big bird went up 800,000 percent. sellers, though. tampa bay times criticized lehrer for not exexplaining dodd-frank and that turned the debate into a walk fest. one suggested that lehrer allowed romney to steamroll the debate but lehrer just reports the story and not easy in these times. some called him a safe and predictable choice and one told

"the new york times" it's a rough, rough world. those who decide to play in that world have to play by those rules. i'm susceptible to the same smears as anyone else. is criticism of the debate moderator fair? the talkback facebook question. facebook.com/car facebook.com/carolcnn. a massive marijuana farm as big as two football fields and it was hiding, of all places, right smack in the middle of chicago. >> announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money and ruining your reputation. that's why you need lifelock to relentlessly protect what matters most... [beeping...] helping stop crooks before your identity is attacked.

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if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock protection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp. plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call the number on your screen now! it is 30 minutes past the hour. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us this morning. the obama/romney duel in denver is officially in the history books but the impact on the race for the white house, well, that's only just beginning. joining me now are cnn contributor and democratic strategist maria kardona and ana

navarro all in washington. ana, mitt romney's performance last night, not only changed the perception maybe of some independents, but it changed the perception of many republicans too. >> i think that was the most important thing that mitt romney achieved last night. you know, he was on shaky ground. we had seen a series of bad polls and, all of a sudden, he pulled himself out of icu and woke up from being unconscious and was there alive and kicking and gave people hope again. gave people hope. we saw the moit romney that i saw back in florida in january who won those two florida primary debates and came out swinging after that. he got his mojo back after winning those two debates. we have got to see if that happens as a result of this one, but this was a very good thing for last night from mitt romney. had he not won last night the only thing we would be debating

today is his political obituary but we're not. >> maria, was there an october surprise? >> i don't think so. everybody made fun of them and downplaying the expectations for president obama. look. mitt romney had the luxury of preparation endlessly for this debate. this is his full-time job as running for president. the president, you know, actually has a full-time job and that is running the country. he was rusty and it showed. mitt romney had had 20 debates this year. was very well prepared. and that showed too. but i do think president obama was able to do the contrast. i loved when he looked directly to the camera and talked to the american people about his plan in protecting the middle class versus mitt romney's but he certainly missed some opportunities. >> here is the thing. when it comes to issues, a lot of people are talking about what wasn't mentioned of the debate like romney's 47% comment, romney's taxes, bain capital. why didn't the president mention these things? >> that's exactly right, carol, and what i was about to say is that he absolutely missed some

opportunities. i don't understand why he didn't bring up the 47%. i don't know understand why he didn't focus on bain and i don't understand why he did not go back very hard on mitt romney, frankly the blatant untruth he told. he did try to go back to that but he should have just pounded him. so i suspect that the next debate, we will see a very different president obama and the challenge here for mitt romney is to see if he can change this moment into momentum. >> ana, the next question for you is how does romney capitalize on this performance? >> i saw him do it back in florida. he comes back with, you know, just a lot of energy. it shows in all of his events. he's got to, you know, how does he capitalize on it? by building up and winning the second one. hopefully, paul ryan outperforming joe biden. if that happens, look. one debate each of these things, carol, is a battle. but winning several battles wins

the war. and, right now, we can say that he won a very important battle last night. it doesn't mean he is going to win the war but if he wins a second battle, that really does, i think, set a tone. if president obama does not come back strong in the second one and mitt romney outperforms him as he clearly did last night it truly will build on his momentum and i think becomes a game-changer. >> romney, the consensus is he won but that doesn't necessarily translate into actual votes. editorial of "the denver post" surveyed voters who were undecided once the debate ended. maria? >> absolutely. i think that is the critical question. what is so interesting to me, i was doing all of the debate commentary on cnnespanol. the consensus obama had won hands down by more than 2-1. and so the other thing that you

saw throughout the debate is in the little lines that women were absolutely in favor of everything that obama was saying. so the latino gap hasn't gone away. the gender gap hasn't gone away. again, that is the question. will this translate to a change of trajectory? i don't think it will, but that all depends on president obama now. >> ana and maria, thank you so much for the conversation. appreciate it. >> thank you so much. taxes, unemployment, and big bird? one of these things is definitely not like the other. and it made for one of the most memorable moments from last night's debate. i'll discuss that with the ceo of pbs. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel.

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a lot of issues went unmentioned in last night's debate but a six foot tall yellow bird that got everyone talking. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. >> as soon as mitt romney mentioned big bird, fake big bird accounts blew up on twitter. fire big bird has about 26,000

followers right now with tweets like if moit romney wins, this is what i'll be forced to do and a picture with big bird that says, i will work for food" sign and big bird claims allegiance with the 47%. joining us is the ceo of pbs. welcome, paula. >> thank you for having me on. i appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. >> the big bird moment was funny but a serious issue here and that is funding for pbs. were you surprised that mitt romney brought up big bird? >> i was. with the enormous problems facing our country, the fact that we are the focus is just unbelievable to me, particularly given the fact that at another part of the debate, both candidates talked about the importance of education. we are america's biggest classroom. we touch children across the country in every home, whether you have books in your home or computer or not, almost everyone

has a television set. so we are able to bring kids across the country, not just enjoyable programs but programs that help them prepare and get ready for school and math and science and literacy. the fact that we are in this debate, this is not about the bubt. it has to be about politics. >> so tell us how much money did big bird get from the government? >> well, actually, big bird doesn't get money from the government. in fact, the money that comes from the government into the corporation for public broadcasting doesn't come to pbs, it goes to our member stations. so that is actually what is at risk if, in fact, we are defunded because the money is going to stations across the country in aggregate our money is 15% of our budget. when you look at it station by station, some stations, particularly in rural parts of the country, they are a part of the federal budget is 50% to 70%. those stations will go off the air. for people sitting in

communities across the country, that is at risk. that is the consequence if, in fact, our money is zeroed out. for the 40 years of our history we have been a great public private partnership and we take the federal money and leverage that with resources that we raise. >> i want to talk a little bit about jim lehrer. critics this morning just annihilating his performance last night. what did you think of jim lehrer's performance? >> i thought it was a very complicated debate structure and you saw that in the debate last night. >> well, there was criticism even when jim lehrer was named to be a moderator. people said another old white guy and too old to be doing this and we live in a new world and we don't need an ocean-fashioned journalist doing these things any longer. >> again, i think it was a complicated structure for the debate. but, again, the fact that we

were, you know, singled out early in the debate, to me, it was stunning. it was just a stunning moment. and i just know, because i travel around the country a lot, i visit with people in communities. i just came back from tacoma, washington, a station there is partnering with a school where half of the children are in homeless communities. the research of our work is extensive and deeply rooted in our education. the fact we are in this debate at all, to me, is just incomprehensible. >> we heard that mitt romney was practicing zingerers before the debate. this seemed to be wuone of thos lines that was rehearsed and he used very effectively. >> the thing that is ironic there has been a lot of research done over the last couple of years about public media.

in fact, last year, hart research and american viewpoint did some research and found 70% of americans approve of cutting public broadcasting. it doesn't tie into any research that i have seen about the role that public broadcasting plays in this country or in the hearts and minds of americans. >> paula kruger, ceo and president of pbs, thank you for taking time out of your busy morning to talk with us. >> thank you very much for having me on, carol. >> we will be right back. it doesn't get any better than endless shrimp at red lobster. you can mix and match all day! [ male announcer ] red lobster's endless shrimp is back... but only for a limited time! try as much as you like, any way you like! like parmesan crusted shrimp just $14.99. i'm ryan isabell and i sea food differently.

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safe to use. patient were taking wellbutrin and it wasn't having any effective? >> they were calling the fda. i switched from this brand of generic and i'm depressed again and think symptoms have come back and they filed a lawsuit. they looked at the drug and it wasn't getting into the bloodstream the same rate as the regular brand. the makers of this generic are taking of it on the market. i want top clear. you can take the brand or another generic. it's not as wellbutrin is going away. >> the fda has to look at the generic brand of this drug and if it wasn't working for years, why is it on the market today?

>> they said they had to test it and make sure and all of that. it's been pretty well known a couple of years this might be problematic and brings up the question how does this happen? >> exactly. how did it get on the market in the first place? >> exactly. how did it get on the market and stay on the market? the drugs by the fda rules are supposed to be tested so they are the same off equivalent to the brand name. but something got goofed up here and the fda says that they are changing their rules for how to make this particular generic. they said something was wrong with what they gave and they are changing it. >> it makes me concerned about all generic drugs frankly. >> you often hear stores about generics not as good as brand names but i have to say it is relatively unusual. generics for the most part are really the same and really are equivalent but if you're taking a generic and it's not working, not doing what it's supposed to, talk to your doctor and say, could you please describe the brand name for me? because this generic may not be

the same. supposed to be but a chance it might not be. >> hopefully, your insurance covers it. >> or try another generic form. for one drug, there are several generics. >> elizabeth cohen, thauches. kitchen-aid taking eat over an offensive tweet sent during the debates. the messages they wish they could take back and why does a refrigerator have a twitter account? [ male announcer ] your mouth is cleanest after a dentist visit. ♪ but between check-ups, it goes through a lot. ♪ tartar builds and that feeling fades. with new listerine® ultraclean™, you can keep it dentist clean. it's the only mouthwash with proven tartar control and new everfresh™ technology for a powerful dentist clean feeling up to 3x longer. ahhhhhhhh. [ male announcer ] keep your mouth dentist clean with new listerine® ultraclean™.

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unless you've been completely out of loop, you know that last night was a pretty big one for mitt romney. joining me is a surrogate for the romney campaign. good morning. >> good morning. >> so did you do any celebrating

last night? kind of like the wave? did everyone get together and do the wave for mitt romney? >> no, no spiking of the football but we are very pleased. look. i thought last night was rarely at this level do you see such a dramatic victory by one side or the other. i thought you saw basically substance versus rhetoric versus style. i think you saw in mitt romney, a person who has specific ideas, concrete proposals and how to fix the economy and get this country working again. unfortunately, for president obama, you saw, frankly, somebody i think is out of ideas and doesn't have any new thoughts as to how to get this economy going. >> the moment that resonate probably the most with viewers was mitt romney's comments on big bird and taking money away from the program, pbs. some people say why are you picking on big bird, of all things? >> big bird is a multi, multi, multimillion dollar venture and big bird will be fine, trust me.

the question is did big bird still need to be on welfare? does the taxpayer need to be funding a multimillion dollar venture? big bird is always going to be on tv but the question is should we be sending hard earned taxpayer money to, you know, entity that is going to be there without taxpayer subsidy? you can borrow money from china -- >> i just talked to the ceo of pbs saying the money doesn't go directly to sesame street but it goes to member stations and they decide what to do with the money and this has been a great public private partnership. sesame street, she says, is america is like poor kids get their education from sesame street. this is a show that is beloved by millions of americans. >> two things. first, sesame street is always going to be there. with or without taxpayer subsidy. that is a red herring and i think a pretty light moment. now, to talk about --

>> i'm not sure it is a red herring, because the amount of money given by the government to pbs stations is a drop in the bucket in comparison with what other things the government pays for. >> with all due respect, with the situation that we are facing in our country, with, you know, millions of people unemployed, with people -- you look at the economic numbers and we are going to have the new numbers coming out this week. to be focusing on a presidential debate, on a light moment where -- where governor romney mentioned we decent be subsid e subsidizing things from china that doesn't need to be that is the take-away you found from the debate? that is the best you can come up from the best from this debate? you think that was the highlight moment from this debate? you don't think the highlight moment when we were talking about how to create jobs? >> it's been the public reaction to the comment. it's not me saying it. is there a facebook page with 26,000 people on board. and the ceo and president of pbs

is concerned, frankly. should we just ignore that? >> yeah, but -- no. but i think -- look. the polls in your own network show that it was a decisive vict victory for mitt romney. the people can't find jobs out there. the united states of america is bankrupt. medicare is insolvent in a decade and this president cut $16 billion out of medicare. that is what the people of america care about. big bird will be around as long as big bird wants to be long. sesame street will be around as long as they want to be around because they are a multimillion dollar venture. you you can buy big bird for your children at any store. i have some for my kid. they don't have to be subsidized by money borrowed from china. what people are concerned about is where are the jobs? how do we create jobs? how do we lore the price of gasoline? and how do we stop borrowing

money from china and stop spending money that we don't have? again, i think focusing on a light moment, which was clearly what it was, is doing a disservice to the people of america who are struggling who want to find jobs and get america working again. mitt romney knows how to do that. >> thank you so much for joining us. i do appreciate it. >> always a pleasure! >> always a pleasure. we will be right back. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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